


Meeting Out of Order

by blueboxesandtrafficcones



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: F/F, F/M, Fake Psychics, Mystery, Palm Reading, Undercover
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-21
Updated: 2018-01-21
Packaged: 2019-03-07 20:48:32
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13443105
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blueboxesandtrafficcones/pseuds/blueboxesandtrafficcones
Summary: Rose and the Doctor visit an alien marketplace, where psychics are going missing.  Rose goes undercover, but her next customer is more than meets the eye.





	Meeting Out of Order

“How may I help the spirits help you?”  Rose asked automatically, sensing someone sit across the table from her.

It was the third day she’d been playing psychic, and it was starting to get old.  While her heart went out to her customers, she was frustrated that there had been no movement on their investigation.

They’d stopped at the festival to do some sightseeing and shopping.  In the course of the day, however, they’d discovered that psychics, particularly the talented ones, were disappearing without a trace.

Naturally, the Doctor had decided that Rose would serve as excellent bait, while they poked around investigating.

By now, Rose just wanted to solve the mystery and move on.

“Good afternoon.”  A voice replied, making Rose look up.

She froze.

He was _gorgeous_.  Dark, curly hair, kind eyes, a handsome face.  And he was dressed like a Victorian gentleman.

“Hello.”  Rose blinked, unconsciously exphasizing the first syllable to his amusement.

“Hello.”  He answered, holding out his hands.  Rose stared at them blankly.  When she didn’t move, his eyebrows rose.  “You read palms, do you not?”

“Right!”  Snapping back to herself, Rose gingerly took his hands in hers, only to feel an immediate spark of electricity.  She was unable to suppress her gasp.

“I’m terribly sorry, that happens sometimes.”  The man smiled reassuringly, eyes crinkling.

“Right, so, you want to know your future?”  Rose tried to focus on the investigation, instead of the handsome stranger in front of her.  She wasn’t sure what was wrong with her; it had been a long time now since she’d been so taken by a stranger.

“Whatever you can tell me.  Or my past – I’m curious to know how good you are.”

That sent up an immediate red flag for Rose, as all of the psychics who’d disappeared had supposedly seen more than they should have.  He was the most suspicious customer she’d had yet.  “Right.”

Trying to be casual as she held his palm flat, she glanced around but of course the Doctor was nowhere in sight.

Huffing, Rose focused on the man instead.  “You don’t particularly care what others think of you,” she started, gently stroking a line on his palm with her index finger.

“You can tell that from a line on my hand?”  He asked, still amused.  She shrugged.

“Yes.  Plus, you’re wearing Victorian garb – no one does that anymore.”  She commented, and inexplicably, his eyes widened as he glanced from her, to his outfit, and back to her.

“Why do you want to know your future?”  Rose asked, pretending to carefully study his hand and not get distracted by his long, graceful fingers.

“I don’t,” he said matter-of-factly, and her eyebrows shot up.

“So you’re seeing a palm-reader because…”

He glanced around, verifying no one was paying them any attention.

“Depending on your abilities, I fear you may be in grave danger.”  Despite his ominous words, there was a flash of excitement and adventure in his eyes that she knew intimately.

“Doctor!”  She gasped, and he was unable to hide his surprise as her mind raced.

“Yes, that is my name.”  He looked at her curiously.  “Does my reputation precede me, or are you perhaps very talented?”

She knew she had two options; tell him the truth, that she and his future self were there investigating and he could go, or she could lie and just try to keep the two Doctors apart.

Impulsively, she decided to stay in character, if only for a few more minutes with this Doctor.

“I’m very good,” she told him, brushing her fingers over his wrist to verify; sure enough, that steady double thrum she knew so well beat beneath his skin.

“I actually have a bit of a gift as well,” the Doctor casually mentioned.  “If you like, once you’re finished with mine, I could tell you yours.”

Rose’s lips twitched in amusement, realizing that the Doctor, in his own way, was flirting with her.  “All right,” she agreed, trying to decide what she should predict and how close she should come.

“I see you travel a lot,” she started, still stroking his palm.  “Sometimes on your own, though you know you shouldn’t.”

“That’s true,” he approved easily enough, leaning forward.  “I can get too caught up in myself, sometimes.  I often have an assistant who helps me see the bigger picture, as you’d say, which in fact tends to be the smaller picture.”

“The domestic approach,” she couldn’t help but tease, and he grinned despite missing the inside joke.

“Exactly.  What else?”

She knew he hadn’t yet been caught up in the war, she could see it in the lightness about him, and decided to avoid the topic for now.  Mostly.  “I see… that it is darkest before the dawn.  And you should never, ever, ever surrender.”

He quirked an eyebrow.  “Churchill fan?”

“He’s all right.  Nice bloke.  Cigars reeked, though,” she deadpanned, and he laughed.

“You mentioned darkness?”  He prompted, and she bit her lip.

“Yes.  But at the point of no return, remember what it means to be a doctor – to be _the_ Doctor.”  Deciding she’d probably already said too much, she moved brusquely on.

“I can see love, and loss.  I see a choice.  I see betrayal, and loyalty.  I see… better fashion sense.”  At that, he snorted.

“You should see some of the things I used to wear.”

Rose smirked, opening her eyes.  “Are you referring to that ridiculous scarf, the cricket whites, or the hideous jackets?  There were a number of those, yes?”

His eyes narrowed.  “How do you know that?”

Her smile fell, as she recognized the suspicious look on his face.  “Psychic?”  She waved at the sign behind her.

He stood, the Oncoming Storm brewing.  “I don’t know who you are or what you think you know, but you are absolutely wrong.”  Shoving the chair away, he stormed off in a huff, leaving a baffled Rose behind.

“What just happened?”  She asked rhetorically, only to hear her Doctor laugh softly behind her.

“I may have messed with his TARDIS, who let off the equivalent of a car alarm.  Don’t worry, as soon as he takes off he’ll forget all about this.”  The Doctor reassured her, coming around to rest a hip on the table in front of Rose.

“He’ll be all right?”

“Course.  And so will you – I found the missing psychics, and caught the trafficker.  All’s good, so unless you want to do more shopping, we can go.”

“Go.  Absolutely go.”  Rose practically jumped out of her chair, pausing only long enough to grab her bag and her wife’s hand, before heading straight for the TARDIS.

“You really freaked me out, you know.”  The Doctor said as they walked through the doors.

“Did I now?”  Rose wrapped her arms around her neck, as the Doctor wrapped hers around Rose’s waist as they stopped by the console.

“Yep.  Knowing the different outfits… that was strange.”

“You were flirting with me, you know.”

“What do you expect?  I told you when we bonded; my soul will always recognize yours, even if it’s as an echo.  Besides – so far, you’ve utterly captivated the five you’ve known.  Why would you think the eight before it wouldn’t be taken with you?”  The Doctor disentangled them enough to be able to lead her wife back towards their bathroom, where she’d asked the TARDIS to draw them a bath.

“Well, when you put it like that…”  Rose teased.  “Would he really have been able to read my future?”

“Probably not.  I had my strongest precognizant abilities in that body, timelines just came to me, but with as tied up in my timeline as yours is, I doubt I’d have seen much.  And quite frankly, that would have been even more concerning.  But Rose, there is something you should know.”

“Yes?”

“My time abilities may not have been able to read you, but I assure you – you’re the one I can always see in my future.”

After more than a millennia of marriage, it still sometimes caught Rose unaware how such sweet words from the Doctor could make her heart leap.

The only proper response, she decided, was to pull the Doctor close for a kiss.  They were smiling too much for it to be more than a press of lips, though, which gave the Doctor a chance to ask, “Rose?”

“Mhmm?”

“How long are you going to stay with me?”

Rose threw her head back, laughing at the age-old vow, and repeated the same answer she’d always given.

“Forever.”


End file.
